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Descendants (2015 film)
| creator = | based_on = | writer = | screenplay = | story = | director = Kenny Ortega | starring = | narrated = Dove Cameron | composer = David Lawrence | country = United States | language = English | num_episodes = | producer = | editor = Don Brochu | cinematography = Thomas Burstyn | runtime = 112 minutes | company = | distributor = Disney–ABC Domestic Television | budget = | network = Disney Channel | first_aired = | last_aired = | preceded_by = | followed_by = Descendants 2 | related = | website = }} Descendants is a 2015 American musical fantasy television film directed and choreographed by Kenny Ortega. The film stars Dove Cameron, Sofia Carson, Booboo Stewart, and Cameron Boyce as the teenage children of Maleficent, the Evil Queen, Jafar, and Cruella De Vil, respectively. The film follows these teenagers adjusting to life outside their island prison, while on a mission to steal the Fairy Godmother's wand and free their parents from captivity. It debuted on July 31, 2015, as a Disney Channel Original Movie, to positive reviews and 6.6 million viewers. The film also stars Mitchell Hope, Melanie Paxson, Brenna D'Amico, Sarah Jeffery, Zachary Gibson, Jedidiah Goodacre, Dianne Doan, Dan Payne, Keegan Connor Tracy, Wendy Raquel Robinson, Maz Jobrani, Kathy Najimy, and Kristin Chenoweth. The first installment in the ''Descendants'' franchise, Descendants was spun off into a CGI animated short-form series titled Descendants: Wicked World, and was followed by a sequel, Descendants 2, which premiered on July 21, 2017, with a third film, Descendants 3, set for mid-2019. Plot Twenty years after Belle and Beast marry and become king and queen, they establish the United States of Auradon, creating a prosperous new nation from the surrounding kingdoms, and banish the villains to the Isle of the Lost, a slum surrounded by a barrier where magic is suspended. Their son, Ben, announces that his first proclamation is to give four selected children from the Isle of the Lost the chance to live in Auradon, away from the influence of their villainous parents: Carlos, son of Cruella de Vil; Jay, son of Jafar; Evie, daughter of the Evil Queen; and Mal, daughter of Maleficent. On the island, Maleficent instructs the quartet to steal the Fairy Godmother's magic wand to release the barrier so she can take over Auradon. Traveling to Auradon Prep, the four meet Ben and his self-proclaimed girlfriend Audrey, daughter of Princess Aurora. They also meet the Fairy Godmother, the school's headmistress. Evie uses her mother's pocket-sized magic mirror to locate the wand in a nearby museum, and Mal uses her mother's spinning wheel from the museum to put the security guard to sleep, but they fail to steal the wand due to a barrier around it. After learning that the Fairy Godmother will use the wand at Ben's coronation, the four wait it out by attending classes, but start to fit in with the students. Jay is recruited into the school's "tourney" team (a sport similar to field hockey and lacrosse), while Carlos overcomes his fear of dogs by befriending the school's dog, Dude. Evie, though intelligent, acts vain to impress Chad, Cinderella's son, but ends up doing his homework for him. Dopey's son, Doug, encourages her not to pander to others and be herself. Mal becomes popular, using Maleficent's spell book to improve the looks of Jane and Lonnie, the daughters of the Fairy Godmother and Mulan, respectively. Learning that Ben's "girlfriend" will be seated close to the wand during the coronation, which is used during the ceremony, Mal bakes a cookie laced with a love potion and gives it to Ben, who falls madly in love with her, much to his friends' shock. On a date with Ben, Mal becomes conflicted with her inner goodness and desire to please her mother, unsure of how to react to Ben's feelings towards her. During the school's family day, the villains' children are ostracized after an encounter with Audrey's grandmother, Queen Leah, saying Maleficent's curse was the reason she missed Aurora's childhood, prompting an argument that drives Mal to end the beauty spell she used on Jane. While Ben tries to reassure them that everything will be okay after the coronation, Doug tries to remain friendly towards Evie, but Chad forces him to distance himself from her. At Ben's coronation, Mal gives him a cupcake containing the love spell's antidote, believing it is unnecessary to keep him under the spell. It turns out, per Ben's admission, that he was already freed of the spell since their date when he went swimming in the Enchanted Lake, believing that Mal only did it because she really liked him. However, much to Mal's surprise it turns out Ben has had feelings for her all along. During Ben's crowning, a disillusioned Jane grabs the wand from her mother, wanting to improve her beauty, only for her to accidentally destroy the Isle's barrier. Mal takes the wand from Jane, but torn over what to do, is encouraged by Ben to make her own choice rather than follow Maleficent's path. Mal recognizes that she and her friends found happiness in Auradon and they choose to be good. Maleficent crashes the ceremony, freezing everyone except herself and the four children. When they defy her, Maleficent transforms into a dragon. Mal and her friends use a counterspell, turning Maleficent into a lizard based on the amount of love in her heart. Mal returns the Fairy Godmother her wand as she unfreezes everyone and tells her not to be hard on Jane. While the villains watch the celebration from afar, Auradon Prep's students party through the night. Mal's eyes turn green as she addresses the audience, telling them the story is not over yet. Cast * Dove Cameron as Mal, daughter of Maleficent * Cameron Boyce as Carlos, son of Cruella de Vil * Booboo Stewart as Jay, son of Jafar * Sofia Carson as Evie, daughter of Evil Queen * Mitchell Hope as Ben, son of Queen Belle and Beast * Melanie Paxson as Fairy Godmother from Cinderella, the headmistress of Auradon Prep and Jane's mother * Brenna D'Amico as Jane, daughter of Fairy Godmother * Sarah Jeffery as Audrey, daughter of Princess Aurora and Prince Phillip * Zachary Gibson as Doug, son of Dopey from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs * Jedidiah Goodacre as Chad Charming, son of Cinderella and Prince Charming * Dianne Doan as Lonnie, daughter of Fa Mulan and Li Shang * Dan Payne as Beast from Beauty and the Beast, king of Auradon and Ben's father * Keegan Connor Tracy as Belle from Beauty and the Beast, queen of Auradon and Ben's mother * Wendy Raquel Robinson as Cruella de Vil from One Hundred and One Dalmatians, Carlos' mother * Maz Jobrani as Jafar from Aladdin, Jay's father who owns his own junk shop * Kathy Najimy as Evil Queen from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Evie's mother who still has issues with her stepdaughter, Snow White * Kristin Chenoweth as Maleficent from Sleeping Beauty, Mal's mother who is known as the worst and cruelest villain in Auradon Production On December 12, 2013, Disney Channel announced the production of the film and released the plot outline. Kenny Ortega, a director who has previously worked with Disney Channel on the ''High School Musical'' trilogy, was announced to be directing the film. The script was written by the Josann McGibbon and Sara Parriott. Filming began in the spring of 2014. Filming took place in Victoria, Canada. The costumes were designed by Kara Saun. Broadcast Descendants made its debut on Family Channel in Canada on July 31, 2015, simultaneously with the United States. It was also the last Disney Channel Original Movie to air in Canada on Family after the launch of a Disney Channel there. The film premiered on August 1, 2015 on Disney Channel in Australia and New Zealand and on September 25, 2015 on Disney Channel in the United Kingdom and Ireland. In the Middle East and Africa, the film premiered on September 18, 2015 on the English feed of Disney Channel. It premiered in Turkey on October 17, 2015 on Disney Channel. Home media Descendants was released on DVD on July 31, 2015. Reception Critical reception Descendants received positive reviews from critics. On Metacritic, the film has a score of 63 out of 100, based on 5 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Isabella Biedenharn of Entertainment Weekly gave the film a "B" grade, saying "... plot isn't really the point. The fun is in the roll call... It's no High School Musical, but the songs are catchy, and the junior villains are worth rooting for." Tisha Mae Eaton of Moviepilot.com stated, "It's a movie that definitely had the feel of a Disney classic with a modern twist and I highly recommend it." Alex Reif of LaughingPlace.com gave it a score of 4.5 out of 5 saying, "... I highly recommend this to any Disney fan, if for no other reason than to see what they've done with the characters, the Hocus Pocus references, and Kristin Chenoweth's Maleficent which is closer to the animated character than Angelina Jolie's portrayal." Brian Lowry of Variety called it "... a playful and tuneful TV movie, exhibiting much higher ambitions than, say, the Teen Beach franchise." By contrast, Amy Amatangelo of The Hollywood Reporter gave it a mixed review, calling it "High School Musical meets Once Upon a Time. It smartly ushers little girls who have grown up watching Disney movies into the tween audience and is an idea so ripe for merchandising that the Disney Store is already chock-full of Descendants costumes, dolls and T-shirts." She called the story "flimsy", but singled out the performances of Chenoweth, Najimy, Robinson and Jobrani. Ratings Before the film made its TV debut, it was viewed more than one million times on the Watch Disney Channel app. It was viewed by 6.6 million people on its premiere night and 10.5 million viewers in Early DVR Playback. Shortly after the premier air date, ratings showed the film was the fifth most watched original movie in cable history. In Australia, the film attracted 151,000 viewers, making it the sixth highest-rated broadcast on pay television on its premiere day. The British premiere was watched by 827,000 viewers, making it the most-watched broadcast on Disney Channel of that week and month. The viewers rose to 1.45 million in 28 days, making it the highest viewership ever on the network. Accolades Franchise Sequels During the 2015 D23 Expo, Disney announced that [[Descendants 2|a sequel to Descendants]] has been ordered. The news was made official on the Disney Channel Facebook page on October 15, 2015. Deadline reported that Parriott and McGibbon will reprise their duties as screenwriters and executive producers and that all of the cast from the first film is expected to return. On June 10, 2016, it was announced that China Anne McClain would join the sequel as Ursula's daughter, Uma. On February 16, 2018, Disney Channel announced a third film in the series, Descendants 3, which is scheduled to premiere in mid-2019. Prequel spin-off Before the film's premiere air date, Disney Channel announced a live action mini series leading up to the event. Every day leading up to the release of the film, a new episode of Descendants: School of Secrets would be released revealing more secrets about the students at Auradon Prep. Each episode of the series is under 5 minutes long, with 23 episodes in total. School of Secrets Disney Descendants}} Animated spin-off Right after the film finished airing on Disney Channel, it was announced that a CGI-animated short spinoff entitled Descendants: Wicked World would be released in September 18, 2015. Descendants: Wicked World}} Furthermore, former Phineas and Ferb storyboard artist Aliki Theofilopoulos Grafft announced on Twitter that she was directing the series, with Jenni Cook as producer, and that the original cast would be reprising their roles. In other media Soundtrack Descendants (Original TV Movie Soundtrack) is a soundtrack album by cast of Descendants, released on July 31, 2015 by Walt Disney Records. The soundtrack peaked at number 1 in United States at ''Billboard'' 200, number one on the US Top Digital Albums and topped the US Top Soundtracks. Novels ''The Isle of the Lost'' A prequel novel called The Isle of the Lost by Melissa de la Cruz, has the villains' descendants banding together to retrieve the Dragon's Eye. The book has spent over 14 weeks as a Children's Middle Grade ''New York Times'' Best Seller. Besides detailing about the children of Maleficent, Jafar, Cruella De Vil, and the Evil Queen, it also talks about some of the known locations of the Isle of the Lost like Dragon Hall (the only school on the Isle of the Lost), Goblin Wharf (which is operated by goblins who would like amnesty for their involvement with Maleficent), Bargain Castle (which sells enchanted robes and bargain hats while the top floor is where Maleficent lives), Jafar's Junk Shop (which is owned by Jafar as mentioned in the film), Castle Far Away (where the Evil Queen lives), Hell Hall (where Cruella de Vil lives), and the Isle of the Doomed (which is hidden next to the Isle of the Lost). The sorcerer Yen Sid from Fantasia is positioned here by King Beast to work at Dragon Hall to help the students with formerly magical parents adapt to more modern methods since the Isle of the Lost's barrier negates all magic. Other villains mentioned or hinted to be on the Isle of the Lost are Captain Hook from Peter Pan (who is mentioned to own "Hook's Inlet and Shack" and is the father of Harriet, CJ, and Harry Hook), Ursula from The Little Mermaid (who owns "Ursula's Fish and Chips" while the Strait of Ursula that's named after her is what separates the Isle of the Lost from Charmington as well as her being the mother of Uma and the other Sea Witches), Dr. Facilier from The Princess and the Frog (who was the founder of Dragon Hall and the father of Freddie Facilier), Mother Gothel from Tangled (who is mentioned to be a teacher at Dragon Hall teaching "Selfishness 101" and is the mother of Ginny Gothel), Lady Tremaine and her two daughters Drizella and Anastasia from Cinderella (Lady Tremaine is the grandmother of Anastasia's son Anthony and Drizella's daughter Dizzy and a teacher at Dragon Hall teaching "Evil Schemes and Nasty Plots" while her cat Lucifer is the school mascot), Clayton from Tarzan (who is the father of Clay Clayton), Madame Mim from The Sword in the Stone (who has Mad Maddy as one of her granddaughters), Governor John Ratcliffe from Pocahontas, Gaston from Beauty and the Beast (who is the father of Gaston Jr, Gaston III, and Gil as well as the owner of "Gaston Duels Without Rules"), Shan Yu from Mulan, Shere Khan from The Jungle Book (who owns "Shere Khan Pawns"), Scar and his hyena cronies from The Lion King, the Coachman from Pinocchio (who operates a taxicab pulled by normal donkeys after spending a year rounding up the boys he had turned into donkeys), the Horned King from The Black Cauldron (who is mentioned to own "Cauldron Repair"), Professor Padraic Ratigan from The Great Mouse Detective, Yzma from The Emperor's New Groove (who is the mother of Yzla and Zevon), and Claude Frollo from The Hunchback of Notre Dame (who is mentioned to own "Frollo's Creperie" and is the father of Claudine Frollo).The Isle of the Lost novel also mentioned an original character who was the former Royal Astronomer of Agrabah and an ally of Jafar who is the father of Reza. ''Return to the Isle of the Lost'' Another Descendants novel titled Return to the Isle of the Lost was released on May 24, 2016. While Ben is running Auradon while his parents are on a cruise, Mal, Jay, Carlos, and Evie receive threatening messages to return to the Isle of the Lost at the time when it ends up in worse shape ever since Maleficent's defeat and the fact that Cruella de Vil, the Evil Queen, and Jafar have gone missing. During this time, it was confirmed that the Crocodile from Peter Pan (who has various children swimming around "Hook's Inlet and Shack"), Edgar Balthazar from The Aristocats (who is mentioned to have a son named Eddie), Hades from Hercules (who is mentioned to have a son named Hadie), and the Ringmaster from Dumbo (who is mentioned to have a daughter named Hermie Bing) are also imprisoned on the Isle of the Lost. It also introduces Hercules's son Herkie, Pinocchio's son Pin, Grumpy's son Gordon, Tiger Lily's daughter Tiger Peony, and King Arthur's son Artie in the book. Also as Freddie, Jordan, and Ally appear in the book, the story takes place during Descendants: Wicked World. ''School of Secrets'' School of Secrets is a series of novels that serve as a continuation of the Descendants film. The first book, CJ's Treasure Chase, was released on August 30, 2016 and centers on Captain Hook's daughter, CJ Hook. The second book, Freddie's Shadow Cards, was released on November 1, 2016, and centers on Freddie, the daughter of Dr. Facilier. The third book, Ally's Mad Mystery, was released on February 28, 2017 and focuses on Ally, the daughter of Alice in Wonderland. The fourth novel, Lonnie's Warrior Sword, is set to be released on August 25, 2017, and will focus on Lonnie, the daughter of Mulan and Li Shang, while the fifth book, Carlos's Scavenger Hunt, is set to be released on November 14, 2017. Junior novelization A junior novelization of the film Descendants, adapted by Rico Green, was published on July 14, 2015. Other books Other books have been released, including Mal's Diary, Mal's Spell Book, a poster book, and a Guide to Auradon Prep. References External links * * Category:2010s comedy-drama films Category:2010s fantasy films Category:2010s musical films Category:2015 television films Category:American films Category:American fantasy adventure films Category:American teen comedy films Category:American television films Category:Crossover films Category:Disney Channel Original Movie films Category:Films based on fairy tales Category:Films directed by Kenny Ortega Category:Films shot in Vancouver Category:Teen films Category:Descendants (franchise)